Sunday, October 30, 2005

'Joy shatters barriers," says a well-known Jewish aphorism. It's a phrasethat many Orthodox synagogues will take literally Tuesday evening with thebeginning of Simchat Torah, one of the Jewish calendar's most joyous days.When the yearlong Torah-reading cycle comes to a close, all Orthodoxcongregations will dance with their Torahs. But some will do so in asanctuary that's been altered temporarily. In some communities, themechitzah (the barrier separating women from men) will be taken down.

Miriam Hoffinger, 70, remembers the mechitzah coming down in the Hasidicshtibl (prayer house) her family attended in Paris in the mid 1950s. "Itwas the one time during the year when the mechitzah came down and we wereall together, celebrating in the same space," she said.

The tradition of removing the mechitzah when celebrating the Torah wouldseem to stretch back at least a century. A YIVO archival photo (circa1900) of a celebration in honor of the completion of a Torah scroll inDubrovno, Belarus, shows women and men in the same room looking on as therabbi dances with the freshly penned Torah.

But as with everything in Judaism, there are gradations. Among the morestringent, women are not allowed to take part in the actual hakafot (theseven circuits made with the Torah). But more liberal Orthodox communitieshave found ways to accommodate women in the celebration of the holiday.

With the increased demand in recent years for greater ritual opportunityfor Orthodox women, rabbinic authorities have been pressed to examine thetradition barring women from dancing with the Torah. Their findings showedthat "from a purely halachic point of view, there is no prohibition at allpreventing a woman from touching a Sefer Torah or even from reading fromit ? even while she is menstruating," according to Shlomo Riskin, foundingrabbi of New York's Modern Orthodox Lincoln Square Synagogue and chiefrabbi of the West Bank settlement of Efrat. This position opened the wayfor women's hakafot in many synagogues.

Those opposed to women's hakafot ? like Rabbi Herschel Schachter,professor at the Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac ElchananTheological Seminary ? argue that the movement to allow women to dancewith the Torah springs from the "impure motivations" of rebelliousness andself-aggrandizement rather than a pure desire to connect with God. Anotherissue of contention is the fact that according to rabbinic tradition, along-held Jewish custom attains the status of a halachic ruling.

Women's hakafot, along with women's prayer groups, have been performed ata number of liberally minded Orthodox congregations for decades. But whenRiskin introduced them in Efrat, the move was accepted in only five of thesettlement's 28 synagogues. In one of these, the controversy caused a riftthat led to a part of the community breaking away and forming acongregation of its own.

Rabbi Basil Herring of the Rabbinical Council of America, the primaryModern Orthodox rabbinical union, said that the RCA "takes no stance onthe issue" of women's hakafot. The ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel's RabbiAvi Shafran said that while the organization does not make policy, "itwould be safe to say that no Agudath Israel-affiliated synagogue haswomen's hakafot." London's Beth Din thwarted efforts years ago to beginwomen's hakafot in Anglo-Jewry's 65 Orthodox synagogues. Some havepersisted, but maintain a low profile. For those walking the tightropebetween a stricter Orthodoxy and greater openness, dealing with issues inthe gray zone requires finding compromises. In some Chabad synagogueswomen dance around, rather than with, the Torah scroll. And while a few doallow women's hakafot, most Chabad synagogues are more traditional intheir approach.

Today, the notion of Simchat Torah as a man's holiday no longer holdstrue. With a fairly wide range of options available, women from across theOrthodox spectrum have found a way to make the holiday their own.

For nearly eight years, he has devoted time to studying holy Jewishwritings with rabbi

Nashville resident Michael Doochin spent nearly eight years studying theTanya, a book that is central in the study of Kabbalah, with RabbiYitzchok Tiechtel of Congregation Beit Tefilah in Bellevue. His years-longjourney is set to conclude today. SHELLEY MAYS / STAFF

He studied the five books that make up the Tanya with Rabbi YitzchokTiechtel of Congregation Beit Tefilah in Bellevue for at least an hour anda half to three hours a week since March 1998.

The men met almost every week over the years to focus on a few pages at atime of the text, which contemplates the metaphysical aspects of God,creation, Judaism and the human soul, Doochin said. "Judaism has thisincredible heritage and all this time, I've rediscovered aspects of it,"said the Nashvillian, adding that he gained deeper insight about purposeand the meaning of life.

"More things speak to me that didn't before I started this process. ? Weare all connected with each other and we're all part of this divine unity.With Kabbalah, you start feeling it not only intellectually but also inyour heart. It also changes your relationships with people."

Doochin, a married father of three who owns Interstate Packaging Companyin White Bluff, finds himself more patient with colleagues and others inhis life now.

Before studying the Tanya, a book central to Kabbalah, Doochin had noexperience with the text or the ancient Jewish mystical tradition. It'srecommended that scholars be at least 40, married and observant beforeembarking on intense study of Kabbalah.

"When you're married, your soul is completed," said Doochin, 52. "Whenyou're over the age of 40, you have the experiences of life. This was aprocess for me, and I learned that it was an important one."

Tiechtel was impressed with Doochin's dedication. "When Michael studiedTanya, a basic book of Jewish mysticism based on the Kabbalah, he focusedon how one can live a life of fulfillment and satisfaction," he said. "Itis a gift for one to take the time to try to understand purpose ofcreation, why they are created and God's understanding the world."

Congregation Beit Tefilah Chabad, one of five Jewish congregations inNashville, is a part of the Brooklyn-based Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Thewritings of Russian Rabbi Shneur Zalman, who published the Tanya in 1796,influenced the formation of this Jewish movement and organization.

Doochin wanted to grow stronger in his faith by immersing himself in holywritings. He and his wife, Linda Kartoz-Doochin, live in the Forest Hillsarea of Nashville. The family attends services at Beit Tefilah andCongregation Micah.

"Michael has a great mind and a great thirst for knowledge,"Kartoz-Doochin said. "I think this has been as spiritually uplifting forhim as it has been for me."

Doochin's study concludes after the High Holidays ? Rosh Hashanah, theJewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar,when time is set aside to atone for one's sins over the past year. "TheTanya talks about living a life of fulfillment," Tiechtel said. "YomKippur is a day that we look back at the past year, recall our actions andhow we may make amends and improve the world around us."

Doochin's study happens to be ending just as Jews around the world markthe ending of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings. His years-longjourney is an unusual one, Tiechtel said.

"I teach Kabbalah all the time, but no one has taken up this endeavor tostudy with this commitment. It's been a growing experience for not onlyhim but for me, too. When you learn something yourself, you understand it.But to really internalize it is to give it over and teach it to someoneelse. It has been an enriching experience to study with a lay person whohas great interest in following up what he has learned."

A good piece here about the re-emergence of Judaism in Eastern Europe.Despite the doomsayers elsewhere, there is now a fresh growth in Jewishworship and pride in this part of the world. Estonia is a place that'svery close to my heart and I'm glad to see stories like this,unfortunately very few people get to here them.

The revival of Estonian Jewish life is gaining momentum, as demonstratedby the Sukkot celebration hosted by the Jewish community of Narva. Jewsfrom the cities of Kohtla-Jarve and Ida-Virumaa also traveled here forthis special occasion. Rabbi Shmuel Kot, the Chief Rabbi of Estonia and aChabad Lubavitch emissary, traveled from Tallinn to lead prayers, bringingwith him a tent, kosher wine, the Lulav and calendars for the year 5766.After erecting the tent in the yard of the Jewish Community Center, thelocal community welcomed their guests with a delicious lunch andtraditional dances.

The Sukkot celebration got underway in the yard near the sukka and was ledby Maria Tsikunova, the Chairman of the Narva community, and its formerChairman, Doctor Alexander Spivak. The two leaders indicated how pleasedthey were that the Jewish community now has the opportunity to mark Sukkotin full accordance with Jewish tradition. The crowd heard how, just 65years ago, Narva was home to a sizeable Jewish community, a Synagogue anda resident rabbi.

"Today, we are reviving our Jewish traditions in Narva and we are creatingcommunities where there never historically was any Jewish community, suchas in Kohtla-Jarve," explained Rabbi Kot. "We are recreating Jewish lifein Tallinn, where 120 years ago, there were 700 Jews who funded theconstruction of a 1000-person Synagogue. Just several years later, therewere already 2000 Jews residing in Tallinn," added the Chief Rabbi. Today,all of these communities belong to the Federation of Jewish Communities ofthe CIS and Baltic Countries.

Registered in 1988 by Samuel Lazikin, who founded the Jewish Community ofEstonia, the Narva community has gone through four chairmen, many of whomhave emigrated in Israel, USA and Germany. Apart from operating a library,a community hall, and an office, the community runs a Discussion Club anda Social Center. This latter institution, which constitutes the localbranch of the Tallinn Social Center, fulfills an important role in thecommunity's activity, especially given that most of the community's 70members are elderly.

Alexander Dusman, the head of the Jewish community of Ida-Virumaa and Headof the country's National Minorities Roundtable, also greeted the audienceon behalf of Jews from Kohtla-Jarve. The Jewish community established inthis industrial city, which is located in the north-eastern part ofEstonia, now has an estimated 100 members.

Participants in this joyful gathering separated into several groups inorder to enter the sukka. They recited a prayer over the wine and, holdinga Lulav next to their hearts, drank it faithfully. The enthusiasts engagedin dances under the open sky, after which they returned to the CommunityCenter, where the gala continued in great Jewish spirit.

Congregations across South Florida pushed to keep their doors open thisweekend despite the threat of Hurricane Wilma.

"We have shutters for the church if it's Category 3 or higher, but wehaven't even put those up yet," said Criss Bertling, spokeswoman forSpanish River Church in Boca Raton. If Wilma does come, she said thechurch will serve as a shelter for its employees and regular members.

At First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, the 35 deacons are calling 200homebound seniors to learn who may need to be moved or need shutters putup, said the Rev. Mike Jeffries, associate for the Rev. Larry Thompson.

Church leaders are also contacting young couples, families and singleadults, Jeffries said. "We want them to know what to expect and how toprepare. Some have never been through a hurricane."

Christ Fellowship was planning regular services at its Palm Beach Gardenshome campus and at its satellite location at West Palm Beach's CityPlace.But the Wellington services are canceled because the site, Polo ParkMiddle School, will be closed.

"We have an outreach ministry for assistance, but it hasn't been activatedyet," spokesman Mike Anthony said. "That could change when the hurricanegets closer."

Chabad of South Broward is planning its Simhat Torah dinner-dance for 7p.m. Tuesday, although Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus may shift gears if thehurricane comes this way.

"In Jewish law, when something is doubtful and something is definite, youstay with the definite," said the Hallandale Beach rabbi, who founded thefirst Chabad Lubavitch center in Broward and Palm Beach counties. "SimhatTorah is a definite. You can't cancel a holiday."

Beyond that, he said, his Chabad of South Broward is following normalstorm-time practice: calling on the elderly, delivering supplies, seeingwho may need to be moved. But Tennenhaus isn't planning for the worst.

"I tell people that if I can make it to church and you can make it, we'llgo with the schedule," said Hoyer, of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs CatholicChurch. "With all the storms last year, we only canceled one Mass. On thatone, nobody came."

He also believes in prayer, of course, and the church publishes one in thechurch bulletin every week during hurricane season. The prayer reads inpart:

"God our Father, Creator and Lord of the universe, you have set the Earthon its foundation and all the elements of nature obey your command. Wehumbly beseech you to keep us safe from all dangers and calm the stormsthat threaten us."

"We've come close, but since we've had that prayer, we've never had ahurricane here," the priest said.Copyright � 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

When Bill Gralnick arrived in Miami in the early '80s, he considered PalmBeach County a no-man's land for Jews.

"You couldn't even get a decent bagel in this county," Gralnick says.

Eliza Gutierrez/The Post

Lauren Manning, 10, reads from a Hebrew workbook at Temple Torah, west ofBoynton Beach, one of the county's 50 synagogues.

Today, Gralnick, the Southeast regional director of the American JewishCommittee, sees a vastly different landscape.

He points to the "multiple synagogues" in such cities as Boynton Beach andBoca Raton, where he established his main office in 1990. To a range ofJewish organizations that provide "cradle-to-grave services." And tonearly a half-dozen Jewish schools in Boca and West Palm Beach.

But the most startling evidence of Palm Beach County's transformation intoone of the world's leading centers of Jewish life will come next month,when the county's two Jewish federations ? one based in Boca, the other inWest Palm ? reveal the results of a population study.

It's expected to show that there are 254,300 Jews in the county,representing more than 20 percent of the overall population of about 1.2million.

That means one out of every five local residents is Jewish.

And that means Palm Beach County tops every metropolitan area in thecountry by a wide margin. Even the closest rival, metropolitan New YorkCity, has a Jewish population that represents only 9.7 percent of theoverall population.

"To find a more densely populated Jewish community, you'd have to go toIsrael," says Richard Jacobs, vice president of community planning for theBoca-based Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

The figures, of course, can be read in other ways. In terms of the sheernumber of Jewish residents, Palm Beach County still trails well behind NewYork (with 2 million Jews) and Los Angeles (668,000).

But the population density speaks to the fact that the county hasdeveloped a distinctly Jewish character ? from food to philanthropy. Andit's a trend that has wide-ranging implications for Jews and non-Jewsalike.

For Jews, it means more opportunities than ever before to express theirfaith or partake of their culture ? the latter being just as importantsince Judaism is defined as both an ethnicity and a religion.

Temples, Jewish life teeming

In Palm Beach County, there are now 50 synagogues, with new ones beingestablished and older ones expanding each year. Boca Raton, considered thecounty's Jewish hub, has 16 temples, representing all the major branchesof the faith ? Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.

And the boom extends to northern Palm Beach County. A telling example:When Temple Beth David, a Conservative synagogue in Palm Beach Gardens,underwent a change in rabbis this past year, several members decided toform a new congregation, Shir Hadash, with the departing rabbi, sensingthere was enough demand for both groups.

There's also the growing presence of Chabad, an Orthodox movement thatwelcomes Jews at various centers throughout the county. In Wellingtonalone, the Chabad group has grown from three families to more than 100 infive years.

Indeed, some temples are finding they can barely meet the needs of thethriving Jewish communities they serve. In Boynton Beach, Temple Torah, aConservative congregation, just started a religious school that attractedmore than 100 students in no time.

As for enrollment at the center's already established preschool? "We have37 on the waiting list," Rabbi Geoffrey Botnick says.

Jewish day schools also are experiencing record attendance. Enrollment atsuburban West Palm Beach's Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy, for example,jumped to an all-time high of 406 this year. And at Florida AtlanticUniversity's Boca campus, a once-fledgling Judaic studies program hasbecome a teeming center of Jewish learning, offering undergraduate degreesin the field. The university also has a library of more than 80,000 books.

Other telling signs? Consider the ever-popular Palm Beach Jewish FilmFestival, which typically draws 8,000 attendees (or just a few thousandfewer than the more heavily hyped Palm Beach International Film Festival).Or the increased attention paid locally each year to Yom Hashoah(Holocaust Remembrance Day). Or the numerous social groups for Jewishyouth.

And though the Palm Beach County School District does not officiallyrecognize religious holidays, it has a long-standing policy of closing onimportant dates on the Jewish calendar ? Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Compare that to other school districts in Florida, from Escambia County inthe Panhandle to Indian River County on the Treasure Coast, that remainopen on those days. Or even to school districts in heavily Jewish citiesnationwide ? Baltimore, Chicago ? that similarly ignore the Jewishholidays.

And not only is it no longer difficult to find a bagel in Palm BeachCounty, it's also increasingly easier to find kosher foods. There are morethan a dozen restaurants, bakeries and markets in the county thatspecialize in kosher offerings. In Boca, the gourmet-oriented Eilat Cafe,which even serves kosher sushi, is so busy that waits for a table duringseason easily can extend beyond two hours.

Of course, non-Jews are just as likely to partake in a corned-beefsandwich or a bagel with a "schmear" these days.

But that's only one way an expanded Jewish community has changed the faceof the county, especially given Judaism's traditionally strong emphasis onculture, philanthropy and liberal politics.

Decisive impact on society

Local arts leaders say that without a Jewish presence, the county'scultural scene would be a shadow of its impressive self. At the fore ofnearly every major cultural organization, from the Kravis Center to thePalm Beach Opera to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, is a Jewish base ofcustomers and contributors.

"They are the lifeblood of all the arts, pure and simple," says culturalphilanthropist and former Palm Beach Opera chairman Bob Montgomery. (Anon-Jew who spends most of his time in Jewish circles, Montgomery jokesthat he's "got two or three Gentile friends.")

And in the political arena, there's little question of the Jewish impact.Some of Palm Beach County's most prominent elected officials are Jewish,including U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Delray Beach), County CommissionerBurt Aaronson, State Attorney Barry Krischer and West Palm Beach MayorLois Frankel. In Palm Beach Gardens, three of the five members of the citycouncil ? Jody Barnett, Eric Jablin and David Levy ? are Jewish.

More often than not, these politicians bring with them that left-leaningJewish sensibility. And though there are notable exceptions ? Boca RatonMayor Steve Abrams is a leading Jewish Republican ? it's obvious that thecounty's liberalism and Jewish influence go hand in hand. Remember theimages of Jewish retirees rallying for the Democrats during the 2000presidential election?

It wasn't always this way.

Palm Beach County's Jewish history dates back to West Palm Beach's pioneerdays ? Jewish merchants thrived on Clematis Street in 1900. Still, in1923, when the county's first synagogue, Temple Israel, was established,only 200 of West Palm Beach's 10,000 residents were Jewish.

Across the Intracoastal, the island of Palm Beach became famous as a WASPbastion ? and became famously cool to Jews.

"When I came down, you couldn't go (to certain places) if your name wasCohen or anything that sounded Semitic," says Sydelle Meyer, a major PalmBeach Jewish philanthropist ? her husband is the one behind the MeyerAcademy ? who moved to the area 32 years ago.

Palm Beach's Jewish families established their own social center, the PalmBeach Country Club, in 1954, after being denied entry to other countryclubs.

The first major influx of Jews came in the late 1960s and early '70s, whenthousands of middle-income Jewish retirees from the Northeast beganflocking to sunny Florida, encouraged by developers such as H. Irwin Levy,who founded Century Village in suburban West Palm Beach, still a largelyJewish enclave.

The next shift took place in the early '80s, when the Miami area, SouthFlorida's oldest Jewish center, began to take on a decidedly more Latinand urban flavor. Jews moved north to Palm Beach County.

The county, in turn, welcomed them ? with safely ensconced gatedcommunities that, until the recent housing boom, were relativelyaffordable.

At some point, there was a mass of Jews large enough to send the messagethat many more were welcome. The Jewish population snowballed.

"Jews will go where they think there are other Jews," says AndreaGreenbaum, an assistant professor of English at Miami's Barry Universitywho edited the recent book, Jews of South Florida.

County's widespread appeal

Soon, Jewish professionals ? doctors, lawyers, financial planners ? movedsouth to serve the Jewish retirees. And younger Jews moved to the countyto be close to their retired parents.

The result: The local Jewish population has gotten slightly lessgeriatric. In the West Palm-based federation's service area (from Boyntonto Tequesta), the median age has dropped from 70 to 68, according to thenew study. (Such figures have not been officially released but were citedin a recent federation publication.)

Although Palm Beach County is becoming more and more Jewish, it is notnecessarily becoming a place where Jews spend more time inside the temple.

If Jews can assert their heritage by going to a show at the Kravisfeaturing a Jewish comedian or by enjoying a bowl of matzo-ball soup attheir local deli, they may not feel the need to join a synagogue, localJewish leaders say. Add to that the challenges the religion has faced inrecent decades from interfaith marriages.

That perhaps explains why the county's affiliation rate ? the percentageof Jews who belong to a local temple ? is a paltry 18 percent.

"We have a lower rate than one would expect," says Bill Bernstein,president of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

Yet the frenetic growth of the Jewish population means the county is aplace where newcomers, observant or not, can readily establish themselves.Rather than being deeply entrenched, the county's Jewish community is verymuch about the here and now.

Marriott, his wife and two children moved to Boca a year-and-a-half ago,and in that short time, he has landed on the board of his temple ? theBoca Raton Synagogue ? and his wife has become PTA president of the Jewishschool their children attend.

"You try and do that somewhere else, it would take generations," he says.

Nine members of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Hasidic sect were arrested on a Crown Heights street yesterday after a violent dispute erupted over a plaque honoring the sect's holiest figure.

Seven men and two women were arrested as cops flooded the area outside the sect's synagogue and headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway at 11:30 a.m. in response to a report of a disturbance involving nearly 300 Lubavitchers. The charges included resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

The violence erupted over the words "of blessed memory," which were inscribed on a plaque under the name of Lubavitcher Grand Rebbe Menachem Schneerson that had been affixed to a cornerstone at the synagogue's entrance.

The inscription goes to the heart of a long-standing dispute that has split the insular community. One faction believes Schneerson is dead. The other believes the grand rebbe is alive - and coming back as the Moshiach, or Messiah.

"He's alive - they are writing that the rebbe is dead!" said Gil Schwartz, 42, a Lubavitcher from Montreal.

The controversy dates to 1994, when Schneerson died. Shortly after Schneerson's death, the plaque was mounted on the cornerstone. The words "of blessed memory" were scratched out by those who believe that Schneerson lives on, and will one day return as the Messiah.

The new trouble started several weeks ago, when a group of Yeshiva students substituted the plaque for one that read, "Long live our Master, the Messiah," according to Lubavitchers outside the synagogue yesterday.

After several attempts to replace the plaque were thwarted, the organization that runs the headquarters, Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, got a temporary restraining order barring any further interference. The synagogue's entrance has been guarded by barricades and cops since.

Meanwhile, Merkos had a new plaque - with the original inscription - put up, prompting the outcry and the violence.

Calling the violence "unacceptable," Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a spokesman for the main rabbi, Yehuda Krinsky, said, "We hope that they will soon learn the error of their current ways and become adherents of the rebbe's ways."

PRAGUE ? An ugly struggle for control of the Prague Jewish community endedofficially late last month when the Czech Federation of Jewish Communitiesrecognized a loose-knit opposition group as the legitimate steward of oneof Europe's oldest Jewish communities.In fact, however, the fight goes on despite the January 20 decision. Theousted community president, Tomas Jelinek, is vowing to continue thebruising power struggle that has divided the tiny, 1,500-member communitysince last spring.A district court issued an injunction in early January, giving the250-member Open Platform the right to occupy community headquarters, butJelinek has vowed to appeal and refuses to vacate.The dispute is a combustible mix of religion, prestige and money. Thepresident oversees the religious and communal affairs of a tiny communityof mostly elderly Shoa survivors and 20- and 30-something post-communistconverts. The community is best known for its museum and the medievalOld-New Synagogue, Europe's oldest functioning synagogue and home ofrevered 16th-century sage Rabbi Judah Loew and his mythical golem. Perhapsmost significant, however, the president controls the community'sextensive real estate holdings, including millions of dollars inrestituted prewar properties in downtown Prague.The fracas began last spring when Jelinek, a onetime economic adviser toformer Czech president Vaclav Havel, won election with the backing of agroup of mostly secular Jews. His platform called for construction of amodern senior-care facility, greater financial transparency and an easingof the strictly Orthodox religious policies of Prague's chief rabbi, KarolSidon.In June, Jelinek moved to dismiss Sidon as rabbi of the Old-New Synagogueand replace him with a New York-born Lubavitch rabbi, Manis Barash, headof Prague's Chabad center. Jelinek accused Sidon, a former dissident andplaywright, of incompetence and mismanagement. Previously, Jelinek hadfired the principal of the main educational facility, Lauder Javne School.Sidon's allies struck back at a November 7 community meeting, winningJelinek's ouster in a raucous scene of shouting and threats ? includingcries of, "You should have stayed in Terezin" ? at the height of whichJelinek and his followers stalked out. Since then, the two sides havefaced off in a series of legal and media battles.Sidon still holds the position of chief rabbi of the Czech lands, and assuch he had considerable influence over the January 20 ouster of Jelinekby the national federation. His support is such that in a community barelyable to sustain one morning minyan outside the tourist season, Sidon'sfollowers ? including prominent journalist Jiri Danicek and Jewish Museumhead Leo Pavlat ? have broken away and formed their own synagogue inprotest.Over the months the sides have aired a series of wild and mostlyunsubstantiated charges in the media. Jelinek's camp charged Sidon withmisplacing Torah scrolls that never were misplaced, and accused the Lauderprincipal of having pornography on a computer, which turned out to besomeone else's. Jelinek's foes accused him of passing personal informationon community members to international consulting firm Ernst & Young, andof filtering his often outrageous allegations through the public relationsfirm Donat, whose local branch is headed by a former member of thecommunist-era secret police.Jelinek said that Ernst & Young had been hired to conduct an audit ofcommunity finances, which he said had been mismanaged. His opponentsaccuse him of wildly overspending on the audit and on other expenses.The accusations have been accompanied by endless legal and proceduralmaneuvers, including a mail-in ballot, organized by Jelinek but laterruled in violation of bylaws."Almost everyone who works there is either a communist or a criminal ?they need to be on someone's side" former rabbinate official Ivo Hribeksaid.A new election is planned for April, and Jelinek has vowed to run again,all but guaranteeing continued acrimony."I won the elections last April and the old guard just can't stand it andis trying anything possible to ruin me, which in turn is disgracing thecommunity," Jelinek told reporters recently. "It's very unfortunate."

WARSAW Just before the sun set over Auschwitz on January 27, ending the international ceremonies that marked the 60th anniversary of the notorious death camp's liberation, President Vladimir Putin of Russia stepped forward to receive a medal from Rabbi Berel Lazar, one of the two men who claims the title of chief rabbi of Russia.

Lazar, a Lubavitch Hasid known for his close ties to Putin's Kremlin, awarded Putin the so-called Salvation medal as a symbol of "the Jewish people's gratitude" to Russia for liberating the camp. Lazar told a Moscow press conference beforehand that the medal would be given in the future "to people who saved and hid Jews during the war." A similar medal was given to the president of Poland, Aleksandr Kwasniewski, for hosting the ceremony.

In the days since, as Israeli and Jewish leaders have scrambled to distance themselves from the medal, Lazar's gesture has come to symbolize in some eyes the growing international debate over Putin's real intentions. Putin is under fire for growing signs of autocracy at home, warming toward radical regimes in Syria and Iran and a slow response to mounting Russian antisemitism.

At the Auschwitz commemoration, which drew leaders from 40 nations, Putin spoke passionately of the Nazis' "atrocities" and openly admitted for the first time that antisemitism was on the rise in his own country. "No one can remain indifferent towards the acts of antisemitism, xenophobia and racial intolerance," Putin told a forum in Krakow, before the ceremony at the death camp itself. He added, "Even in our country we sometimes, unfortunately, see manifestations of this problem, and I, too, am ashamed of that."

In the last week, however, Putin has come under fire for a series of actions and omissions that critics say belie his words. Eastern European leaders complained that he failed at Auschwitz to acknowledge the Soviet tyranny that replaced the Nazis. Numerous observers noted tartly that he was the only speaker at the camp to omit any explicit mention of Jews. Critics at home complain that he has failed to speak out directly against a recent antisemitic statement by a group of Russian politicians, leaving it to other government ministries to respond.

Meanwhile, Israel and its allies are voicing alarm over an apparent shift in Moscow's Middle East policy. Putin confirmed to reporters in Krakow that Russia intended to proceed with a planned missile sale to Syria, despite Israeli protests. This week Iran and Russia reached an agreement on disposal of spent nuclear fuel, clearing the way for Russia to fire up Iran's first nuclear power plant.

Israeli and Western analysts have been watching Putin's foreign policy with mounting distress for the last year or so. Partly as a result of the expansion of Nato and the European Union into Eastern Europe, Russia has been growing increasingly defensive and suspicious toward the West. Moreover, analysts say, the Iraq war has driven a wedge between the Putin and Bush administrations and spurred Russia to seek its own Middle East alliances.

Putin's appearance at Auschwitz did little to ease suspicions. Omitting mention of Jews, he focused on Russia's wartime suffering and on the role of the Red Army in liberating Eastern Europe from the Nazis.

The remarks caused widespread unhappiness in Eastern Europe. "Russia is celebrating the liberation," Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert at the German Council for Foreign Relations, told the International Herald Tribune. "But it was the beginning of a new tyranny in Eastern Europe and some parts of Western Europe."

Jewish community leaders took a cautious approach, praising Putin for attending the ceremony at all. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that the president of Russia has attended such an event," said Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich. "This is a crucial first step in including Russia in those countries that actively remember the Holocaust." Still, he voiced disappointment at Putin's failure to speak of Jewish suffering.

At home, meanwhile, Putin "does just enough to keep the Jewish community and the international community off his back," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "What is missing is the will of his government to use the instruments of law and order to show these antisemitic incidents are unacceptable."

Lazar, the Moscow Lubavitcher, was named chief rabbi of Russia in May 2000 at a gathering of Russian Lubavitch representatives, who do not recognize the long-serving chief rabbi chosen in the 1980s, Adolph Shayevich, a Modern Orthodox rabbi. Since then Lazar and his allies have grown increasingly close to Putin's circle, while Shayevich and his allies are often identified with Putin's democratic opponents.

Speaking through an aide, Lazar told the Forward that he had decided to honor Putin in order to recognizing the Soviet army's role in liberating Auschwitz.

Lazar told a press conference that he would be presenting the Salvation award at Auschwitz together with the president of Israel, Moshe Katsav. But a Katsav political adviser, Avi Granot, said the Israeli leader had no knowledge of it and would not be a "partner to it."

The dismissive Israeli response was typical of those interviewed about the award. "Rabbi Lazar represents Chabad of Russia, not the Jews of Russia and certainly not European Jewry or world Jewry," one prominent European rabbi told the Forward, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Many people were surprised by this, as this was not on the official program the day before the event," Schudrich said. "While I certainly understand the desire to say 'thank you' to world leaders, the choice of place and time was simply not appropriate. This time and place was to remember and mourn and not to give out awards."

Sending Grace Weinberg to her final resting place nearly came down to a choice of breaking the laws of this world or those of the next.Weinberg was 84 years old when she moved in with her daughter Sheryl in Juneau in 1995. Grace was an active member in the town's small Jewish community and even led an aerobics class three days a week.

But in spring 2003, the 92-year-old's health had diminished, and she and her daughter began to plan her funeral.

Grace's final resting place was to be beside her late husband in Arizona. But when Sheryl met with a Juneau funeral director about transporting her mother to Phoenix, she hit an obstacle: Bodies cannot cross Alaska state lines unless they have been embalmed.

"We're Jewish," Weinberg said. "When I told him she couldn't be embalmed, he told me that was impossible."

Jewish tradition prohibits the dead from being embalmed, according to several rabbis and religious scholars. That's because all the organs and fluids are sacred and must be buried with the body, and the embalming process removes them and replaces them with chemicals to slow decomposition.

"The reason it's not permitted is because we use the notion from dust to dust," said Rabbi Edythe Menscher of the Union for Reform Judaism based in New York. "As you are created, so you return."

Some other faiths, such as Islam, also prohibit embalming the dead.

In the Weinbergs' case, it became a matter of working around the law of the state to comply with the law of their faith.

Sheryl Weinberg spent six weeks talking to state officials and medical examiners, trying to get a waiver to transport her mother's remains. It was important that the paperwork be in place because once Grace died, Jewish law required she be buried as quickly as possible.

The waiver came through just weeks before Grace died in August 2003. Her body was sent quickly to Phoenix, unembalmed.

"Had we not had the waiver, it would have been impossible to have honored her wish," her daughter said.

Sheryl Weinberg has taken her fight to Alaska's Capitol, where she hopes to see the law struck down. She said she does not want other families to go through what she did as she prepared for her mother's death.

"The fact that I had a roadblock almost first thing and had to secure this waiver, it was not something I relished, but I had to pursue it to the end," she said.

The law that requires bodies be embalmed has been part of state public health regulations since Alaska was a territory.

"This could be an artifact from the time when the technology provided that dry ice would be packed on the body and be shipped on a freighter," said Sen. Kim Elton, a Democrat from Juneau and a sponsor of a bill to change the law.

Elton and the other sponsors say technological advances and daily jet service have reduced the health concerns the law was meant to address.

Allowing the law to stand now infringes on religious liberty, they say.

Deb Erickson, deputy director of the state Department of Health, said the issue rarely comes up in Alaska, where the Lubavitch Jewish Center estimates about 5,000 of the state's population of nearly 650,000 are Jewish.

Erickson said she can remember two cases in the past two years when embalming waivers were requested.

"We haven't hesitated to grant a waiver in the past when it's due to religious services," she said.

At least one funeral director doesn't think changing the law is a good idea. Bill Wilkerson, general manager of Alaskan Memorial Park and Mortuary in Juneau, said he believes transporting unembalmed bodies could pose a health risk or cause others discomfort, such as passengers aboard a plane that carries an unembalmed body not properly sealed in a container.

Changing the law also could cut into the bottom line of funeral parlors, which charge for embalming.

"It's not a big issue, but it could become a big issue if it came to somebody who didn't want to pay for embalming," Wilkerson said.

There is no public health threat in transporting an unembalmed body on a common carrier such as an airplane as long as the body is in a sealed container, Erickson said. The proposed law change would still require embalming for bodies carrying communicable diseases, she added.

An Alaska Airlines spokeswoman said the airline's policies follow state law. If the law in Alaska changes, the airline would adjust its policies, she said.

Rabbi Yosef Greenberg of the Lubavitch Jewish Center in Anchorage said the issue does not come up frequently now, but Alaska's population and tourism industry is growing. Last year, he said, he helped secure a waiver to return to Israel the bodies of two Israeli tourists who died in a car crash.

Original Z-boy Allen Sarlo suggested we go to Malibu Chicken after acouple of hours surfing First Point. After surfing, your body is screamingfor fuel that is good and wholesome. By my memory, Malibu Chicken was kindof a greasy call, but Sarlo insisted, saying cryptically, "It's kosher."

We got there and Malibu Chicken was gone. Instead, we were greeted by anew sign, clean and well lighted, with "Malibu Beach Grill" hovering overthe slogan "It's All Good." Next to the copyright logo, the name "Glatt"was a little too prominently displayed. Jeez, even the sign painters havebig egos in Malibu.

Inside, a woman in colored dreads handed us printed paper menus,apologized for them, explained that the new proper menus were coming soon,apologized for the one typo on those new menus that were coming soon, toldus the specials, and asked us how we were and what we wanted to eat ? allin the same breath.

The veggie burger looked good, but when I asked for cheese, she apologizedand said they couldn't serve cheeseburgers.

"Couldn't?"

We ordered, then Sarlo and I sat outside on a fine Malibu night, the heavymetal thunder of PCH interfering with the sound of crashing waves and ourview across the bay to the lights of Palos Verdes.

The woman in dreads was Joyce Brooks Bogartz. She was simpatico.She was savlanut, and for the next two hours, as the moon rose over Carson,she introduced me to this secret society of kosher.

Turned out the copyright icon was a logo for Central California Kosher, acertifier from Fresno: "Glatt is the highest level of kosher," Joyce said."The rabbi puts his hand inside the animal's lung and feels the lining.Glatt means smooth. Smooth is good."

By now it was clear the restaurant formerly known as Malibu Chicken wasunder new management, and the manager was He Who Cannot Be Named.

Joyce explained that Chabad of Malibu owns the building, and the currentrabbi/landlord, Levi Cunin, had wanted to open a kosher restaurant of thehighest standards for some time. After a brief struggle, Malibu Chickenwas gone, and Joyce, her husband Gary and sister Jacqueline came in tomeet a Higher Standard: "We had to strip the kitchen and rebuild it,"Joyce said. "When observant Jewish people eat bread they wash their handsfirst, and we had to have a sink for that. When the Health Department sawthat hand-washing sink too close to a cleaning sink, we got a B. I wasmortified ? we fixed it, and now we have an A."

I asked who was tougher, the County of L.A. Health Department or theTorah, and Joyce smiled quietly to herself: "I'll get back to you."

I sat outside under the heat lamp with a laptop (they have WiFi), Googlingthe All Knowing Internet for kosher laws and watching a steady stream ofMalibu hipsters, goyim and gangstas come and go.

Some of the crowd looked Jewish, some didn't. There was a continuous flowof garumphy men wearing yarmulkes and loose clothes. You look at some ofthese shape-challenged chaps and wonder, "How does Israel survive?" Butthen there were others: lean, sharp-dressed, aware, coiffed andbad-ass-looking, like Mossad officers. And then you think, "Okay, I getit." They rolled up, ordered their food, then peeled down PCH in theirGerman cars, with their fine-dime shiksizzles by their sides.

The Malibu Beach Grill is open 16 hours, from 7 in the morning until 11 atnight, and I stayed until the last customer had left. Joyce ran her legsoff, smiling and kibitzing the whole time, bringing endless nosh: chickenwings, tofu chili and chocolate-covered strawberries. It was, as the signsaid, all good, because kosher is all about attention to detail: "I cleanthe lettuce on a light table," Joyce said, and she wasn't shticking.

I stuck around until Joyce said good night with a chocolate-chip cookiethe size of a land mine. As she and her crew cleaned the place with Godwatching, I joked that He Who Cannot Be Named ordered the Sabbath so theJewish people would not work themselves to death. The restaurant, inaccordance with the Torah, is closed Saturdays, a potential gold-mine day:"We close before sunset on Friday and open again Sunday morning, but we docater on Saturday nights," Joyce said, and smiled an eternal smile. "Godwill provide."

"Just about everybody is on-line today so whether it's a recipe you want, a deeper mystical understanding of these traditions or simply instructions on how one is supposed to perform the observance, we've got it."

Religious groups, like so many others, started launching websites in the mid-1990s shortly after search engines became mainstream, recognizing the public could now scout for whatever faith they felt like learning about, said Lorne Dawson, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, in southern Ontario, who studies the sociology of the Internet and co-authored Religion On-line: Finding Faith on the Internet.

"It created a snowball effect. Every religion sees all its competitors going on-line and feels 'we can't be left behind,"' he said.

"Appearances matter in religion just like any other aspect of the world. It's public relations. It used to be done by building buildings."

Nowadays church groups e-mail daily inspirations, offer virtual prayer groups and even allow surfers to participate in pilgrimages from the comfort of home.

Carmelite nuns in Indianapolis, for instance, use the web to offer a School of Prayer to Roman Catholics at www.praythenews.com.

Last year, the Vatican began sending text messages of Pope John Paul's "Thought of the Day" to mobile phones.

The Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., offers radio-style podcasting, MP3s of Christian music and does live weekly webcasts of worship services and Bible classes as part of what it calls its "Internet ministry."

"After sex it may be the most pervasive topic on-line," says Dawson.

"There's practically not a religious group or orientation or viewpoint I can think of in the world that I haven't gone on-line and immediately encountered multiple sites dealing with it, even if it's something relatively obscure."

For Kaplan, offering his congregation, as well as other Jews, a place to learn about their spirituality on-line is vital to an evolving religion.

"As the world changes so does the medium of sharing the beauty and pageantry of our faith," says Kaplan.

The Passover site receives about 2,000 page views a day many from people who've never stepped foot in his synagogue or even live in Canada.

"We've never seen them before but they're regular visitors [on-line]," says Kaplan, adding that he believes his site is the "most comprehensive web-based source in the world" on Passover.

Using content from the main Chabad organization, the site offers printable colouring pages for young kids, recipes and a day-by-day planning calendar.

Eloise is moving out of the Plaza, at least for now, and the Israelis aremoving in. On the last day of April, the Plaza Hotel ? mythical home tothe mischievous children's-book character ? closed until 2007 forrenovations. An Israeli owned-firm, Elad Properties, is planning toconvert the New York landmark into a combination hotel-apartment building.

Elad's American president, Miki Naftali, had assured New Yorkers at apress conference in late April that Eloise will retain her dedicated roomin the new hotel. A few weeks before, however, it was an Israeli, thebillionaire diamond merchant Lev Leviev, who put in the first bid for oneof the planned penthouse apartments, a reported $10 million.With residential real estate booming in New York, and a slumping market inIsrael, real estate experts say a flurry of moves by Elad and Leviev'scompany signal a broader Israeli charge into the market.Leviev, known for his massive support of Lubavitch Hasidic activities inhis native Russia, owns a burgeoning New York real estate business, whichhe established after conquering the diamond world. Just two weeks ago,Leviev's Africa-Israel Investments, which works in America with theHasidic real estate developer Shaya Boymelgreen, paid $210 million for asingle building on Wall Street. It was the duo's 15th project in New Yorksince Leviev entered the American market three years ago."Israelis are becoming a presence in New York," said Shimon Shkury, abusiness professor at Yeshiva University and a partner at the real estatefirm Massey Knakal, who moved to New York from Tel Aviv six years ago.Shkury said that population trends and financing deals had drawn a longline of Israeli investors large and small. Dozens of Israeli firms arebelieved to be currently active in the New York market. Also active arelarge numbers of Israelis who have settled in New York in recent decades.One of the most visible, Tel Aviv native Yair Levy, made an eye-poppingdeal in early April with the purchase of the Sheffield apartment towernear Carnegie Hall for $418 million, the most ever paid for a residentialbuilding. His partner, real estate veteran Kent Swig, is the scion of oneof San Francisco's most prominent Jewish philanthropic families.Not all the contacts between Israelis and American Jews have gone assmoothly. Indeed, several of the most high-profile Israeli investmentshave led to highly public Israeli-Diaspora disputes, so to speak.Leviev and Boymelgreen came under pressure because of their plans to builda hotel on a site along the Brooklyn waterfront where developer BruceRatner was hoping to create a new cultural complex, known as AtlanticYards. Ratner is the scion of one of Cleveland's most prominent Jewishphilanthropic families.Ratner's development has been hotly opposed by a crop of Brooklyncitizens' groups, and Boymelgreen posed his plans as a responsiblealternative for the area. The tension between Ratner and theBoymelgreen-Leviev partnership was smoothed over when the duo sold theproperty to Ratner for $44 million in mid-April. That left many of thecitizen's groups angry with their fellow Brooklynite Boymelgreen.A much more bitter dispute followed the purchase of the Plaza Hotel byElad Properties last September for $675 million. The company facedemotional opposition as soon as it announced its plan to convert 655 hotelrooms into 200 luxury condos ? eliminating 900 hotel jobs in the process.The hotel workers' unions that led the public campaign, the HotelEmployees and Restaurant Employees Union, is part of the traditionallyJewish garment workers union, Unite, as a result of a July 2004 merger.The union made some attempts to appeal to traditional sympathies in itsefforts to win backing in New York and Tel Aviv for its fight against theIsraeli-based developer.Sources close to the negotiations say that Naftali, Elad's Americanpresident, initially showed little interest in the union's concerns.Naftali did not return calls for a comment.Elad also ran into opposition from cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, aprominent art collector and preservationist and former chairman of theConference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. The exterior ofthe Plaza is deemed a historical landmark, but Lauder has fought, as a"concerned citizen," to ensure that important elements of the interior arealso preserved, such as the Palm Court and the ballroom where TrumanCapote's Black and White Ball was held.Lauder and union leaders made separate trips to Israel at the beginning ofApril in an effort to put pressure on Elad owner Yitzhak Tshuva, who builthis fortune on Israeli gas stations. Lauder met with Tshuva, while awaiter and a doorman from the hotel visited with the head of Israel'slabor federation, the Histadrut. The Plaza employees asked their Israelihosts, "How would you feel if someone came here and bought the King DavidHotel and wanted to make it into a department store?" according to a unionspokesperson.A few weeks after these trips, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg called inthe unions and Elad for four days of negotiations. They reached acompromise to save 350 hotel rooms of the original 805, and scale thenumber of new apartments back to 150. The union has expressed satisfactionwith the deal, but Lauder has been less easily appeased. Lauder'sspokesman, Hank Sheinkopf, said he is waiting to see the final plans putforward by Elad."If the integrity of the landmark is not protected ? if the Plaza Hoteldoes not remain a grand hotel ? Mr. Lauder may take legal action,"Sheinkopf said.These disputes, though, do not appear to have slowed the Israeli movementinto New York. Elad, which was established in New York in the 1990s, hasfocused much of its attention on converting old buildings into apartmentbuildings, a popular practice given the high residential real estateprices in New York. Leviev and Boymelgreen, on the other hand, have builtmany more of their properties from the ground up.The chief economist for Leviev's Africa-Israel Investments, Dan Avidan,said the urge to expand into New York is natural for Israelis."In Israel, when you start a project of 100 units, you will be happy ifyou sell it in two years," Avidan said. "In New York, we sell it in twoweeks."Shkury, the New York real estate agent, said that in the 1990s, Israel'sreal estate market was booming with the influx of Russian immigrants,Today, though, that growth has stalled, while immigrants keep coming toNew York. "If you look at Israel," Shkury said, "you see there is nothingto invest in."Avidan said there are also more psychological reasons for the interest inNew York."We have direct flights, and almost every Israeli speaks English ? it'seasier than working in Russia, where English is not enough," Avidan said."We feel like home."

A group of Hasidic Jews have found themselves in a no-holds-barred battle with ritzy Southampton residents as they try to establish the first synagogue there on a mansion-studded street. The religious uproar erupted after members of the Chabad of Southampton Jewish Center began using the private home of Rabbi Rafe Konikov on tony Hill Street as an informal synagogue in 1999. The problem was the place of worship is in a residential area, a violation of local zoning laws. That prompted the Southampton Village Building Department to cite Konikov for code violations last year ? and a group of neighbors to sue to try to shut down the religious gatherings at his home. The Chabad is now petitioning the Southampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals for an exemption. "There is really nowhere else to go [for the group to worship], especially for people who want to walk there on Sabbath," said synagogue member Carl Davis of Southampton. Davis and others argue that the synagogue does not disturb the serenity of the affluent area. As for detractors, "I think some of the people opposed just don't understand what we represent ? we are the first synagogue in the oldest village in New York state," Konikov said. The rabbi said he hosts about 20 people per weekend on the off-season and around double that during the summer. But some residents who live near the Chabad house have complained that the synagogue's presence has a negative impact on property values and snarls traffic in the area, especially during the busy summer season. They filed a lawsuit in the hopes that a state court will shut it down and order a halt to the current zoning-board appeal. "I'm just not sure this is the right place," said Audrey Linney, whose mother lives near the house during the summer. "Look around. This is about as residential as it gets. Any time you have people getting together in numbers on a regular basis, that's going to annoy people, especially around here." Another neighbor said the area's residential character should be respected. "Zoning is in place for a reason," she said. "You don't just throw it out willy-nilly." Still, others had no problem with the formalizing of the synagogue. "To be honest, if this was another church, I don't think it would be a big deal," said a neighbor who would not give his name. "It's not like these people are throwing concerts in there."

The Chabad Jewish Center of West Palm Beach will celebrate Simchat Torah with food and dance beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the center, 2716 S. Dixie Hwy. A Hakafot, or dancing with the Torah, is planned for 11 a.m.

Students at Brandeis may have built the largest sukkah in the Boston area, at 1,350 square feet.

Local youth groups mark holiday with community events

As the community enjoys the holiday of Sukkot, synagogues, colleges and Jewish groups around the Greater Boston area are involved in an array of innovative festive programs catering specifically to young people.

You won’t sit in a more eye-catching sukkah than the one currently attracting big crowds at Harvard Hillel. Jewish students there claim it’s the largest octagonal-shaped sukkah in the world. Michael Simon, Harvard Hillel’s director of programming, said: “We don’t know if there are any other octagonal sukkot, and we have no independent verification although I can verify that it is eight sided. We stand by that claim until proven otherwise.” Elsewhere, the Chabad at Brandeis believes it may have errected the largest sukkah in the Greater Boston area. Rabbi Peretz Chein of the Chabad House at Brandeis says its temporary dwelling, which was 105 square feet in 2002, will be 1,350 square feet this year. He said: “We believe it may be the largest free-standing sukkah in Boston to host Sukkot dinner.” Both organizations have the same goal with their large sukkot. Chein explains: “At the Chabad House we give students a ‘Jewish home experience,’ which is the most effective and relevant form of Judaism. The large sukkah is a place where all students from extremely diverse backgrounds come together and are at home.” Brandeis students built the sukkah themselves. Emily Silbergeld, a Brandeis student who helped build the Chabad House’s sukkah, said: “It really shows the importance of student involvement in making things happen. There’s such a sense of family. Students get involved and stay involved because they see Chabad as a home from home.” Besides its sizable sukkah, the Harvard Hillel is planning other events, including Sukkat Salaam, a joint dinner between Hillel and the Harvard Islamic Society to celebrate Ramadan and Sukkot. “A very important aspect of Sukkot is that you welcome friends, guests, and strangers into your sukkah,” said Simon. “We wanted to fulfill the meaning of Sukkot, which is really to open the flaps of your tent wide and expand our community.” In addition to student events, programs for the entire community are being planned. A Sukkah-Fest in Downtown Boston at Faneuil Hall, organized by the Chabads of Swampscott, Andover and Lexington, will feature a large sukkah, live music by Pey Dalid and glatt kosher food. “It’s an opportunity to feel good about the holiday and also give people a sense of community,” said Rabbi Yossi Lipsker, spiritual leader of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore. “People can come together and give their children a sense that they can walk out into the world and still enjoy Sukkot.” Sukkah-Fest, which was organized with the assistance of Congressmen Marty Meehan, hopes to become an annual event. Another concert open to all members of the community will feature Shotei Hanevuah, or The Fools of Prophecy, an Israeli Middle Eastern rock band and is being sponsored by the Harvard Hillel. Avi Poupko, the Hillel’s campus rabbi, has seen Shotei Hanevuah perform in Israel 15 times. “They are a new generation of Israeli musicians who are deeply connected to their Jewish identity, which is a new trend for Israeli musicians,” said Poupko. Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacles, is a seven-day holiday commemorating the 40-year wanderings of the Jews in the desert, during which they lived in huts, or sukkot.

The Material Girl's newest release, due out Nov. 15, includes a tune called "Isaac," a paean to Rabbi Isaac Luria, a master of the arcane tradition known as kabbalah.

Madonna's name-checking of an obscure religious leader may seem an odd formula for a pop song — what's next, Wittgenstein set to a house beat? — but it demonstrates that kabbalah is creeping ever closer to the mainstream.

Other celebrities, including Britney Spears, Barbra Streisand, Paris Hilton and Demi Moore, have attended kabbalah classes or been spotted wearing red-string bracelets believed to ward off the evil eye. Moore recently married Ashton Kutcher at a "kabbalah wedding."

Philip Berg and his sons, creators of a chain of 40 kabbalah centers around the world, are credited with the recent upsurge in interest. They assert that kabbalah transcends Judaism and can give insight to people of all religions. A primer, called "Kabbalah 101," offers "What your rabbi, priest, guru, shaman, lama, shrink and aerobics instructor never told you!"

But not everyone is happy about the new popularity of the old secret knowledge.

Luria, or the "Arizal," was buried in 1572 in Safed, a "Kabbalistic" city in Israel, where his adherents operate a seminary and keep watch over his tomb. They're not impressed with Madonna's musical tribute, and they see her song as an attempt to cash in on his name.

Kabbalah, he said is "simply the most deep and mystical teachings of Judaism. In order to incorporate it into one's living, one must be deeply familiar with Jewish texts." He finds it unlikely that a Catholic girl from Bay City, Mich., is adept at Jewish learning.

Study in the Middle Ages was often restricted to Jewish men age 40 or older. Those new to Judaism, Freitag said, are unlikely to grasp the subtleties. "It's basically like trying to understand advanced rocket science without understanding arithmetic."

The origins of kabbalah — the Hebrew word means "reception" and "tradition" — are mysterious. Legend holds that the tradition was handed down to Moses by God on Mount Sinai when the Torah and the 10 Commandments were imparted.

The word in such contexts implies the full range of Judaic tradition, according to Joseph Dan of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, who presents a cogent description of the subject in his book "Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction."

Medieval scholars and mystics contributed their own "secret" writings, often based on visionary experiences, adding an "esoteric stratum" to the shared Jewish traditions, Dan writes.

Around 1280 a Spanish mystic and writer named Moses de Leon composed a commentary on the Torah called the Book of Zohar, one of kabbalah's earliest texts. In the mid-1500s Rabbi Luria contributed his own visions in which he claimed he spoke with Elijah and the prophets. His writings, compiled by a student, became the basis for a school of study termed Lurianic Kabbalah, and helped usher in the modern era of kabbalah.

Various versions of the Zohar surfaced and receded during the next few centuries, and kabbalah and its purported magical powers continued to influence both Jews and gentiles, including Isaac Newton and German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz.

The tradition of gentiles studying kabbalah continues in the present with adherents such as Shirley Chambers of Atlanta. Born and raised Catholic, she became dissatisfied with traditional Christian theology, and "I began to study every 'ism' in the world," she said.

Chambers began teaching a form of kabbalah in 1981, and in 1988 opened the Karin Kabalah Center on North Druid Hills Road. "Kabbalah to me at this point is a label that is put on a flow of understanding about God and life," she said.

While the study of kabbalah is ancient, using kabbalah to brand licensed products is relatively new.

The Bergs have trademarked the phrase "Kabbalah Centre" and attempted to trademark the phrase "Kabbalah red string." The application was rejected, according to the Village Voice, because the red string was only "indefinitely identified" as a religious object.

On the Web site, www.kabbalah.org., one can buy kabbalah water, kabbalah clothing and, for $26, a red string bracelet and book about it.

Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, who directs the congregation at Chabad of Cobb, said kabbalah does, indeed, extend beyond the boundaries of religion. "A lot of it is universal wisdom, universal truth," said Silverman. "There happen to be a lot of parallels between kabbalistic teachings and far Eastern truths."

Silverman includes kabbalah in his teachings, his sermons, and in the way he raises his children.

"If it goes hand-in-hand in inspiring people to grow in all areas of Judaism, that's a wonderful thing," he said. "But if it's just basically kabbalah only and not the rest of it, then I think there's something not right with it."

While pop kabbalah may appeal to a heterogeneous group also fascinated by New Age concepts, traditional kabbalah will continue to thrive in the synagogues, said Bob Menaker, an editor with the Atlanta Jewish Times. "Religious instruction is widely available in the Jewish community," he said. "The organized Jewish community does such a good job with Jewish education that people aren't looking for short cuts."

His only experience with the new "kabbalah" was at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a holy site for Jews. "This old man is trying to wrap one of those red strings around my wrist and says, 'Give me $20.' "

The holiday of a lifetime turned into a nightmare for three Jewish friends from London this week after Hurricane Wilma left them stranded in Mexico without food or water.

Bianca Weber and sisters Natalie and Nicolette Berg were confined to their resort room in Talum for four days as the devastating storm battered the country with 150mph winds, claiming at least six lives.

The hurricane, which had been one of the most powerful on record as it approached the region, destroyed hundreds of houses in its path and left many holidaymakers living on the streets.

Speaking last night from Cancun, where the trio were still among thousands of stranded Britons waiting to fly home, Weber told the Jewish News of the group’s ordeal as Wilma swept through.

Insisting the roaring hurricane sounded like a train outside the hotel, where they were holed up ankle deep in water, the sales executive said: “From when we were confined to the room on Thursday, we had no food or electricity, and we only had two litres of water. That was all we had to eat or drink. I was doing nothing other than sleeping and feeling very weak. For the rest of the time, all I was thinking was please let me get out of here alive.”

The 28-year-old, who lives in Golders Green, had no contact with her parents in South Africa until she was finally told she could leave the dark room on Sunday. Then, she had a 40-minute journey to use a telephone, only to find a three-hour queue ahead of her . She said: “It was amazing when I got through. At least they knew I was alive. My family feared we could be dead because we had no contact with the outside world. When you haven’t heard from your children for that period of time you assume the worse.” Weber later got a lift back to the hotel on the back of a truck.

The three friends, who were due to fly home last weekend, still don’t know when they will finally be able to return to the UK. But they have been informed they will first have to travel to the Dominican Republic and won’t not be able to take any luggage.

Despite her ordeal 5,000 miles from her north London home, Weber acknowledged there were many others left in a far worse state by Hurricane Wilma. “Thank God I was in a five-star resort. It definitely increased my chances of survival. There were some people who moved here from the convention centre where they were sheltering who now have dysentery and other health problems,” she said. “I can’t wait to get home.”

Bianca’s dad, Maurice, said: “It was a living nightmare. There were moments when I had my doubts as to whether they were alive or not. I spent my time on the internet trying to locate where they were and looking for organisations that might be able to help.”

After contacting Chabad, he was told that they would have somewhere to stay and be looked after if they were able to get to Guadalajara or Mexico City.

Further east in Florida, there were reports of succahs being ripped out of the ground when the hurricane struck.

According to Chabad of Hallandale’s representative Rabbi Rephael Tennenhaus, telephone pole wires shook “like lulavs”. But the rabbi said he expected the hurricane to cause more people than usual to attend simchat torah festivities as many had been prevented from cooking.

SWAMPSCOTT – A Jewish-owned van was torched in the parking lot of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore last week, only two weeks after the synagogue had been the target of anti-Semitic vandalism.

Days before Rosh Hashanah, the same Chabad congregation found that vandals had entered the building through an unlocked door on Sept. 30, destroying the interior of the property with obscene, anti-Jewish messages. Rabbi Yossi Lipsker, spiritual leader of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore, told the Advocate two weeks ago: “I was horrified beyond imagination. To bring that dimension into this sacred space was utterly horrifying.” The van fire is under investigation by Swampscott Police. Because the incident took place at a house of worship, it was reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to the Swampscott Police Department. The police are not saying whether the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. Rabbi Yossi Lipsker was unavailable for comment. Merritt A. Mullman, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, called the incident “wholly unacceptable.” He said that this was the fourth anti-Semitic incident that has taken place against this congregation during the past six months. He also pointed out that Temple Ahavat Shalom in Lynn was recently attacked by vandals. “We will not be harassed,” wrote Mullman in a letter to members of his community. “Our best response is to stand tall and strong in the face of these and all vile acts.” Mullman said: “I want to see my community be clear and make a statement by our actions. We’re in the middle of the season of holidays. Synagogues and temples should be overflowing this week. We will not be deterred from pursuing Jewish life, and there is no greater response that we can give than that.” Rabbi Moishe Bleich, spiritual leader of the Wellesley-Weston Chabad Center, said: “If there is a connection, it turns into something that is horrific. “Rabbi Lipsker and his community are upstanding members of the community. They have only been giving toward the community, and I can’t understand or give any excuse for anyone to do something like this.”

Because the incident occurred at a temple, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also notified.

Calls to Rabbi Yosef Lipsker of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore were not returned this week and a spokesman for the New England chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it did not have enough information to comment on the incident.

Earlier this month, High Holy Days were marred by vandals who placed anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls inside Chabad Lubavitch just days before Rosh Hashana. According to police detectives, someone entered the synagogue through an unsecured door. The congregation has only been at that location since the summer of 1999 when it purchased the property, which was formerly a Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Detective Ted Delano urged area residents who may have spotted suspicious activity in the vicinity of the temple to contact police at (781) 595-1111.

Cremation may be on the rise nationwide, but it's not a practice that is accepted in all circles.

Among those with certain religious beliefs, cremation is prohibited.

Probably one of the strongest prohibitions against cremation comes from Islam, which says that burning people, whether alive or dead, is reserved for Allah when he makes his final judgment on a person's soul.

"Hell is a place where people are in an inferno," Imam Johari Abdul-Malik explained this week. "It is not permissible for people to burn themselves or someone else.

"Allah is the only one who is authorized in Islam to burn a person."

Muslim funeral rites are highly specific, Abdul-Malik said.

After a person dies, the body is ritually washed, then wrapped in white cloth. The body is taken to a cemetery and placed in a grave, without a coffin or casket.

Whenever possible, bodies are laid on their right side, facing Mecca.

Though some reformed Jews do allow for cremation, strict interpretation of the Talmud, like Islam, forbids the practice, though for different reasons.

"Cremation is something that is not permitted," Rabbi Levi Fogelman, of the Chabad Center in Natick, said. "(The body) belongs to God. Therefore, we don't have the right to ruin something that doesn't belong to us."

As in Islam, Jewish tradition calls for a ritual washing of the body after death, followed by a funeral service, Fogelman said.

Many Jewish families try to do something tangible in memory of the dead, Fogelman said.

"Many people will dedicate something...in remembrance of that person," he said.

Though for thousands of years prohibited by the Catholic Church, cremation in 1963 became an option, when church officials relaxed their rules.

Though Canon Law still encourages the burial of bodies, "it does not, however, forbid cremation," a Catholic cemetery Web site says.

One of the few religions that encourages cremation, Hinduism teaches that the body is made up of five elements -- earth, water, air, fire and space.

Cremating the body returns these elements to the Earth, said Kumar Nochur, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sri Lakshimi Temple in Ashland.

"A Hindu would very traditionally be cremated," he said. "For Hindus, cremation is the preferred and primary mode of taking care of the dead."

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Thoughts on Judaism: Defending ChabadWhile it has been easy to make light of the peculiarities of Chabad, we can often miss the positives of Judaism's most colorful movement. In the soil of its Messianism, narcisistic fervor and fundamentalism grows some of the grass roots kindness and caring that changed the Jewish map over the past 55 years. Here are some of the things I like and respect about Chabad.

Yom Tov

One of the most remarkable things about the Chabad derech is its emphasis on bringing Judaism to the uninitiated. It is rather refreshing to go to a shul that does not have "tickets" for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Can you imagine what our forebears would have thought if they were required to buy expensive seats in shul? Many times, a person who gets an aliya in a Chabad House will stumble through the brachas, with several people guiding him word for word. He is tattered and bruised after the harrowing event, but beaming with acccomplishment. The Rebbe once famously said that the most beautiful books are those that have battered and worn covers and bindings, because it shows that they have been used for their purpose. Often, people come to Chabad shuls not knowing the rudimentary elements, and they find people ready to guide them in the mechanics and significance of what they are doing.

Wherever I go, there I am

Go to Thailand or Hong Kong on vacation, and you will find a Chabad House there. Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota? If there is half a minyan, a Chabad House is sure to be their home. The Chabad derech is to bring the Torah to the Jews, wherever they are found. Why would a kid who grew up in Brooklyn want to spend his life teaching college students in Phoenix or Omaha to say brachas? The Rebbe's derech was full of military symbolism. There were "campaigns", "Neshek", "tanks, and "tzivos Hashem". And there were soldiers who were willing to go where no one wanted to be, to do a job that no one wanted to do.

The Chabad Rebbe

While I have discussed his derech in the past, I have never discussed what I think made the man a gadol. The burning dedication of the Chabad Rebbe could be seen in his conduct as well as his learning. He would speak every week, producing volumes upon volumes of new work on deriving an operative philosophy from the parsha, from the Pirkei Avos, from Rashi and from Chasidus. As well, a cursory examination of his work reveals that he was an expert in Rashi, in Mishna Torah, in Gemora, and in Chabad Chasidus. For hours on end, as an elderly man, he would stand without so much as a bathroom break, while thousands of people passed by. He would give dollars, Tanyas or some other keepsake, always with a purpose of making them aware of an idea (tzedaka or learning) and with making some personal contact with each one. It was rare that the Rebbe stopped before the line ended.

Nothing more illustrates what I admired about the Rebbe more than these exchanges. Once, after a project was completed, the gevir told the Rebbe that the work was complete and that he hoped that the Rebbe would be satisfied with it. The Rebbe told him that such a goal was useless, since he would never be satisfied with a past accomplishment. Once, a shliach reported with beaming pride that 60% of the Jewish students in his community attended his school, the only Jewish school in the area. The Rebbe made clear that he was not to be satisfied with anything less than each and every Jewish child in a Jewish school.

Outreach

In fact, it is useless to deny that the modern stress on outreach to the nonobservant was initiated at 770 Eastern Parkway, even to the extent that they built yeshivas that strictly cater to the adult who did not learn as a child. A "beginner's yeshiva" like those in Chabad were not even necessarily considered a good thing before Chabad showed that it could work.

Foundation of Kindness

It is also undeniable that there are those within Chabad (few though they may be, we would all do well to learn from their example) who excel in kindness. Moreover, the chabadniks who excel in kindness do so out of a genuine personal caring for every Jew, regardless of belief level, background, affiliation or yichus. They are a lesson not just in how to be kind, but in why to be kind. The Chabad Rebbe also stressed that a person should be kind, not just to attract another person to Judaism, but simply because the person is created in the image of G-d. You know who you are.

Conclusion

So, as we approach Yom Tov, and we see Jews that are unaffiliated, Jews that are in remote places, Jews that do not a teru'a from a terabyte, know that there is a steady stream of Chabad stalwarts ready to blow the shofar for them, shake the lulav with them, sit and teach them, for no reason other than that the Chabad Rebbe's vision included everyone. There are those among them who are interested in the people, not in monetary gain or their own interests. They will spend this Yom Tov finding Jews and trying to connect with them on some level. A good and successful Yom tov to all of them.

posted by Rebeljew at 7:31 PM
6 Comments:

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Thanks for showing the other side. (If I had to show offense, I need to show appreciation as well, no?) btw, the pick on someone your own size was tongue in cheek. I know we do provocative things, and I can even laugh at some of the stuff written on that (theknish.com had a really funny piece once). It was just one too many, and you happened to be "it".

Ksivah Vachasimah Tova!

By hmmm, at 8:36 PM
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It is really nice on erev Rh for you to post a defense of this wonderful organization to show the kind side of them that is a plant and a fruit of the great holy Rebbe who implanted in them the nice side.

At the same time it would nice if you and other bloggers show on Erev RH (or other times) the kind side of other frum-charedi yidden that many so often paint an ugly picture. Show their kind and nice side.

Many of them llive a life of gmilut chassadim and helping others (while at the same time living according to their inner convictions).

By Anonymous, at 1:02 PM
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Wow..very nice...balance is good!

By Moshiachman, at 1:42 AM
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gmar chatima tova.
ureaih betuv yerushalayim.

By daat y, at 8:25 PM
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so true so touching so articulate thanks for the read and thanks for the laugh below :)

By Anonymous, at 10:33 PM
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Thank you for that. It's EXACTLY what my experience has been. I too spend my shul time with my local Chabad. Though I'm not a Chabadnick myself, it's the closest thing to a community and religious home that I've yet to find.